4/3/05 Thanks to the generous donation of a kidney, Lompoc resident John Mudie has an easier life.

Mudie's kidneys failed two years ago after taking lithium carbonate medication to treat his manic depressive disorder. Mudie was on dialysis for two years after his kidneys failed, but he recently received a third kidney from a dying woman whose family agreed to donate her kidney to someone else in need.

"I just think it's wonderful that I came back alive again," Mudie said. "I mean I've got a new life I've got a body that kind of works. I don't have to do dialysis anymore and dialysis is a big deal."

Mudie is not alone.

In the United States, over 86,000 people are in need of an organ transplant operation, including more than 2,000 children under 18, according to the One Legacy donor transplant network Web site (www.onelegacy.org). Experts on the site said a new name is added to the national waiting list every 13 minutes and demand for organs is exceeding the available supply.

Lompoc resident Hugh Thompson is also an organ recipient with a new left lung after emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused his lungs to fail.

Thompson recently shared his organ transplant experience on an episode of the TAP TV program "North County Organ Transplant Support Group," an educational show about the organ donor network system that airs Mondays at 9 p.m., Tuesdays at 4 p.m., Thursdays at 4:30 p.m., and Fridays at 9 p.m., on cable Channel 23.

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"Don't take your organs to heaven," Thompson said shortly before taping began in the Lompoc TAP TV studio. "Heaven knows we need them here."

Thompson said the lung donation offered him a second chance not only with his life but also with knowing his family. When Thompson, 64, was younger, he was sent to be raised away from his family because the water in his community made him sick.

"The biggest thing that happened to me since then is I've been able to meet my siblings and my mom after a 50 year separation," Thompson said.

Jeff Wynne, host of the cable access television show, said the educational organ transplant program is "the top priority of all my shows."

"This show can save people from dying," Wynne said.

Thompson added that by becoming an organ donor, "you may lose a family member, however you gain another family,"

Anybody can be a kidney organ donor if they meet certain medical criteria, Mudie said.

"You've got two kidneys and you can live with one," Mudie said.

Thompson urges members of the community to learn more about being an organ donor by visiting www.onelegacy.org.

"You can give life to another person," Mudie said. "That's the message."

Staff writer Neil Nisperos can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 108, or by e-mail at nnisperos@pulitzer.net.